Voice, Victory, Video
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and sixty: ABCs #22 Will watches the video of the Sectionals performance with the Glee Club.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cycle. Now here's cycle 8!_

_Walking through a bookstore back in december, I saw the series of books by Sue Grafton that go "A is for...," "B is for...," etc, and I got the idea for this set. It will spread over the end of cycle 6, and carry through cycles 7 and 8, to be posted on alternating days. [And by the time we reach the end, Glee will be a week away!!] What I did is I found three words for each letter that would have some significance to Glee, and I built a plot around it. You with me? Okay, here we go..._  
_**22 of 26:** V is for..._

* * *

**"Voice, Victory, Video"  
Will & New Directions**

It was a few days after Sectionals that the idea had come to her. There she was, with the video of their Sectionals performance and win and, as much as it pleased her to have it, she knew there was one person who would love nothing more than to see it.

She'd made arrangements with AV to set it up in the auditorium, and the others had taken care of getting snacks, as well as the guest of honor.

"What have you guys been up to?" Mr. Schuester had laughed, being ushered along into the auditorium.

"You'll see," Tina had told him. Matt, Mike, and Puck took care of bringing Artie down with them, in a way his official carrying detail.

"Always full of surprises," Mr. Schuester spoke as everyone took seats, passing slushies and other snacks around. Rachel looked back and gave a signal. The lights lowered, and everyone just smirked at Mr. Schuester's confusion. The video was projected on to a screen on stage, and he looked back.

The emcee introduced New Directions, and Mr. Schuester smiled… now he knew. He nodded to himself, and those close enough to him could see the hint of tears in his eyes.

The music started, and Rachel's voice came, which prompted the camera to make a quick turn to find her at the back of the auditorium.

"We wanted to make a big impression," Rachel explained. "It was Mercedes' idea," she looked to her with a smile, got one back.

In truth, it was the first time most of them saw this part, having been behind curtains. All of them watched and listened attentively, much as they had as they watched Mercedes performing her later-stolen ballad.

They finally moved when the camera turned again, left and right, to capture the others' entrance. Mr. Schuester applauded, just as the audience had. Seeing them all take their places on stage, smiling, ready, as a group… He could not have been prouder. Their club may have been small, but they could fill the room with their voices…

Rachel had presented them, taken her place among them, and their second song started. When it did, even though he'd obviously heard it before, he looked to Finn with a smile. Finn smiled back.

It was one thing to hear it through the phone, without the visual to go along with it. It wasn't just about the performance though, as great as it was. They had been left to scramble, so close to the deadline, but they'd pulled through. They could hardly tell.

No, the best part of seeing all of it was the energy, coming and going, all over the auditorium. People were on their feet, supporting them, entertained by their spirit. He would have loved nothing more than to have been among them to experience it.

When the song ended and everyone cheered them on, it was matched in the McKinley auditorium.

"There's more," Rachel nodded to Mr. Schuester before he could say anything.

As they had kept their win a surprise to Mr. Schuester, this was not something he had been aware of. The second runner up was announced, and despite everything, they applauded them. When the two other groups came on stage, even though they were already aware of the result, there was a tenseness, a hush falling over the thirteen of them sitting there.

They cheered when they were announced as having won, then laughed. They could hear all of their parents, who were sitting in the vicinity of the cameras, cheering louder than anyone. Whenever they'd identify a voice they could recognize as one of their family members, they'd just grin.

The video ended, the lights came on, and Will looked to his Glee Club with a massively proud smile.

"Thank you, thank you guys, really," he reached around for handshakes, high fives…

"It seemed only fair," Rachel smiled.

"Yeah, we all wanted you there," Finn went on.

"Well, barring any more interventions from you-know-who, I should be there for the next one, right? Regionals, guys," he cheered, and the twelve of them hooted and hollered.

"We're going to make Sectionals look like a dress rehearsal," Artie nodded, and the others laughed.

"Here," Rachel reached into her bag and pulled out a DVD case, handing it to Mr. Schuester. They had all wrote their names on the cover. "Now you have your own." Mr. Schuester smiled.

THE END


End file.
